No Lane Closures on U.S. 321 in Blowing Rock Most of Thanksgiving Week

Friday, November 16, 2012

Limited operations on Saturday

RALEIGH – Visitors heading to the High Country next week for the holidays will not encounter lane closures along the U.S. 321 widening project in Blowing Rock. However, construction work will continue prior to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Construction crews will be in the work zone:

Saturday, Nov. 17. Excavated and backfill material will be removed without lane closures.

Monday, Nov. 19, with lane closures.

Tuesday, Nov. 20 and Wednesday, Nov. 21. There will not be any lane closures from 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 20 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 26, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Travelers are advised to drive with caution as the work area now has temporary pavement markings that may be unfamiliar to some drivers. A lane shift is located near Cliff Dwellers Inn at the intersection with U.S. 221/U.S. 321 Business.

The speed limit along U.S. 321 remains 35 miles per hour. The N.C. State Highway Patrol continues to monitor this corridor for speeding violations.

The road widening preparation work continues at a steady pace. Occasional lane closures will continue on weekdays between the Shoppes on the Parkway and Green Park Inn. This work will not close the entire road, nor will there be any detours, allowing motorists to get through the work zone with only brief delays.

The N.C. Department of Transportation reminds all motorists to drive slowly using caution in work zones. When lane closures are in effect, remember to watch for flaggers standing near the roadway and be prepared to stop.

Call the project hotline at (828) 964-3260 to speak to an NCDOT representative during regular weekday business hours (8 a.m. until 5 p.m.). Please note that the hotline will not be available on Nov. 22-23.

For more information or updates on the U.S. 321 road widening project, visit the project website. Follow project progress on the website or via Twitter (see @NCDOT_EastMTN and #US321). You also can view photos on the project’s Flickr pages.

For real-time travel information on this project at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone. Then, bookmark it to save for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.